Future doctors and nurses practice collaboration with digital patient
Now medical and nursing students can train in collaboration and communication through a new digital simulation. The simulation takes place at a large interactive screen and has been developed by teachers at Sahlgrenska Academy, in collaboration with an Icelandic company.
Because the new medical program runs parallel to the old program, the demand for simulated exercises has increased sharply. The simulation center at Östra sjukhuset, where interprofessional simulation between the medical and nursing programs is normally conducted, is not sufficient. The solution with the digital simulated patients has been developed by the teaching team responsible for the simulation component, in collaboration with the Icelandic company Mirno. The digital table is now in place at KTC and has recently been used for the first time in education.
Communication and teamwork
During the exercise, students in the medical and nursing programs make decisions together and communicate in stressful situations – just as they will do in their future jobs. The students interact with animated patients, which makes the exercise both realistic and engaging.
Tine Rode Schmidt Högberg is responsible for the medical students' part of the exercise together with Steinn Steingrimsson. Tine states: – The focus of the exercise is communication and teamwork between the professional groups. With the digital technology, we can create patient cases, where the students really must collaborate and communicate in order to take care of the patient.
Jenny Milton, who leads the nursing students' part, agrees: – This is a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of what the future nurses can expect from the doctors, and vice versa. It makes them feel more prepared to work together.
Two virtual patients
During the exercise, the students meet two patients who are in the hospital: Samir, for whom the students are to understand why he feels so unwell, and Regina, who has been injured in a bicycle accident. Both patients require immediate care, and the students must work together to provide the correct treatment. The technology allows them to see the patients' reactions and symptoms change depending on their actions, creating a realistic and dynamic learning environment.
The teaching team behind the simulation sees great potential for future development. The exercise could be expanded by involving more subjects and areas, so that students get to train in different parts of the care process in one and the same session. Several different professions could also be involved in exercises at the digital table.
– We are the first to test interprofessional simulation around an interactive screen and it will be exciting to evaluate how it has been experienced by students and supervisors. I believe there are many opportunities for development for this type of training and learning.
Text: Elin Lindström